أساس مكافحة المخاطر هو توفر بيانات موثوقة ومدارة ودقيقة وآمنة
Summary
TLDRIn this interview, the founder of Cedar Rose discusses the origins of his company, which specializes in financial risk solutions, and the importance of data accuracy and security in combating financial crimes. He highlights the misconception that such crimes are limited to financial institutions, emphasizing that they can involve human trafficking and modern slavery. The interviewee stresses the need for individuals and businesses to perform thorough background checks and be aware of their supply chain to avoid unwitting involvement in illegal activities.
Takeaways
- 🚩 Financial crimes are not limited to financial institutions but include any illegal activities that generate illegal financial gain, such as human trafficking and modern slavery.
- 🌟 The founder of Cedar Rose was drawn into the industry of financial crime investigation by chance, but had a subconscious desire to fight for humanity and a good cause.
- 🏢 Cedar Rose started as a company providing credit reports and grew into investigating the source of funds and wealth for companies and individuals.
- 🌐 The name 'Cedar Rose' symbolizes the union of the founder's Lebanese and English heritage, representing trust and personal commitment.
- 🔍 Cedar Rose focuses on gathering information from ultimate sources, ensuring data is legally and ethically obtained with unique identifiers for thorough research.
- 💼 The company's platform allows clients to search for companies and individuals to assess their operations, financial stability, and compliance with regulations.
- 🔒 Data management is crucial in fighting financial crime, and Cedar Rose emphasizes the importance of data privacy, accuracy, and security.
- 🛡️ Cedar Rose adheres to data protection regulations like GDPR and has achieved ISO 27001 certification to ensure the highest standards of data security.
- 👥 Individuals can fight financial crime by being aware of who they are doing business with and conducting background checks before transactions.
- 🌐 Supply risk is a growing concern, and companies must be aware of their entire supply chain, not just their direct clients and subsidiaries.
- 💡 The interview concludes with a call to action for everyone to be vigilant against financial crimes and to educate themselves on the risks involved.
Q & A
What is the scope of financial crimes according to the transcript?
-Financial crimes are not limited to financial institutions but include any illegal activity that generates illegal financial gain, such as trafficking, modern slavery, and more.
How did the founder of Cedar Rose get into the industry of financial investigations?
-The founder co-founded a company in 1997 that provided credit reports and later started receiving inquiries to investigate companies and individuals' sources of funds and wealth, which led to the establishment of Cedar Rose.
What is the significance behind the name 'Cedar Rose'?
-Cedar represents the founder's birth country Lebanon, and Rose represents England, where his wife is from. The name symbolizes the union of the founder and his wife.
What services does Cedar Rose provide through its platform?
-Cedar Rose offers a platform where clients can search for companies and individuals to find out about their ownership, operations, financial stability, compliance, and any adverse information.
Why is data accuracy and management important in fighting financial crimes?
-Data accuracy and management are crucial because they form the core of investigations and regulatory compliance. Ensuring data is accurate, up-to-date, clean, and secure is vital for trust and effective risk management.
How does Cedar Rose ensure the security and privacy of the data it handles?
-Cedar Rose adheres to data protection regulations like GDPR, undergoes ISO 27001 certification audits, and invests in technology and security to ensure the best practices in data handling, collection, transmission, and access.
What is the challenge faced by institutions when adopting technology solutions to fight financial crimes?
-The challenge is balancing the need for technology solutions to enhance risk management with the risk of exposing themselves to cybersecurity threats.
What role can individuals play in fighting financial crimes?
-Individuals can fight financial crimes by being aware of who they are doing business with, conducting background checks, and not being deceived by appearances of wealth or status.
Why is supply risk important in the context of financial crimes?
-Supply risk is important because it involves being aware of not just direct clients but also the entire supply chain, ensuring compliance and avoiding association with illegal activities.
How does Cedar Rose address supply risk?
-Cedar Rose addresses supply risk by providing solutions that help clients assess and manage the risks associated with their suppliers and the broader supply chain.
What advice does the founder of Cedar Rose have for people to avoid being associated with financial crimes unknowingly?
-The founder advises people to look beyond appearances and conduct thorough checks on the background of individuals or companies they are transacting with to avoid unknowingly financing illegal activities.
Outlines
🔍 The Journey into Financial Crime Investigation
The speaker begins by highlighting the misconception that financial crimes are only related to financial institutions, emphasizing that any illegal activity generating illegal financial gain, such as human trafficking or modern slavery, falls under this category. They recount their journey into this field, which began by chance but was driven by a subconscious desire to fight for humanity. In 1997, they co-founded a company providing credit reports and conducting research on companies in the Middle East. Their expertise grew as they accessed hard-to-obtain information, leading to inquiries about investigating the source of funds for companies and individuals. This led to the establishment of Cedar Rose, a company named after the speaker's Lebanese heritage and his wife's English background. Cedar Rose specializes in providing financial risk solutions and has built a comprehensive database of companies and individuals, ensuring data is collected legally and ethically with unique identifiers for thorough research and investigation.
💼 The Importance of Data Management in Combating Financial Crimes
The speaker discusses the importance of data management, privacy, accuracy, and security in the context of fighting financial crimes. They emphasize the challenge and cost of obtaining, curating, and transforming data, particularly in regions like the Middle East and Africa where Cedar Rose specializes. The company has invested in talent, technology, and security to ensure data is normalized, standardized, and translated accurately. They have also undergone ISO 27001 certification to ensure rigorous data security practices. The speaker advises individuals and institutions to be aware of who they are doing business with, conducting background checks to avoid association with unethical or illegal activities. They stress the importance of not being deceived by appearances of wealth or success, as these can mask criminal activities. The discussion also touches on supply risk, advising companies to be aware of their entire supply chain to ensure compliance with regulations and avoid reputational and financial damage.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Financial crimes
💡Cedar Rose
💡Data
💡Regulatory requirements
💡Data privacy
💡Data accuracy
💡Supply risk
💡Technology
💡Cybersecurity
💡Compliance
💡Human trafficking
Highlights
Financial crimes are not limited to financial institutions but include any illegal activity generating illegal financial gain.
The journey into fighting financial crimes began accidentally but was driven by a subconscious desire to fight for humanity.
Cedar Rose was founded in 1997 to provide company credit reports, specializing in the Middle East.
The company's expertise lies in accessing difficult-to-obtain information and conducting research in opaque jurisdictions.
In 2001, Cedar Rose began receiving inquiries to investigate the source of funds and wealth of companies and individuals.
The name 'Cedar Rose' symbolizes the founders' Lebanese and English backgrounds.
Cedar Rose provides financial risk solutions and compliance solutions, essential for trust in business transactions.
The company has a comprehensive database of approximately 50 million companies and 10 million UBOs.
Cedar Rose collects information from ultimate sources, ensuring data is legally and ethically obtained.
Data management is crucial, with a focus on privacy, accuracy, and security.
Cedar Rose adheres to data protection regulations, including GDPR, and has ISO 27001 certification for information security.
The company has a large database covering the Middle East and Africa, with a focus on normalization and standardization of data.
Investment in talent, technology, and security is essential for managing data effectively.
Balancing the need for technology solutions with the risk of cybersecurity is a significant challenge.
Individuals can fight financial crime by conducting background checks on those they transact with, even on a personal level.
Emotional triggers can lead to financial crimes, and it's important to be aware of who you associate with to avoid unwitting involvement.
Supply risk is a growing concern, with regulations like those in the EU requiring due diligence down the supply chain.
Cedar Rose educates clients on the importance of knowing their suppliers and the potential risks involved.
Transcripts
good morning great to have you here
today
morning when we say Financial crimes um
I think there's misunderstanding people
think sometimes that it's related only
to financial institution because the
word has Financial while it's any
illegal activity which generates illegal
financial gain which is which can be
trafficking modern slavery any anything
I know that your journey when you
started you were telling me happened by
chance but I think deep inside
subconsciously it's by choice if you
didn't like it or you didn't Aspire
always to fight for Humanity and good
cause you wouldn't continue even if it
started by accident tell us about this
journey and thank you Hala to tell you
about this journey I need to go back a
little bit in time um so back in 1997 we
I co-founded RO with my wife a company
that was providing company credit
reports we were at the time specialized
in conducting research and compiling
reports on companies specifically in the
Middle East um during the time as well
we obviously were able to access
information difficult to optain research
places that were too OPAC and
jurisdictions were not making
information publicly available this gave
us certain expertise few years later
fast track to 2001 we started to receive
inquiries on um companies and
individuals to investigate them
investigate their source of funds their
source of wealth all in line with
financial Financial transactions at the
time um and this is what brought us into
this uh this element and this industry
in fact and see the rose and actually
see the rose talking about Cedar Rose
first I'm curious why it's Nam Cedar
Rose and second when we if I anyone now
will Google the name CED the rose it's a
very prominent company which finds
either Financial Risk Solutions or comp
solutions for people not from the domain
what does this mean as well sure so the
name cidos derives from two words Cedar
being the emblem of my birth country
Lebanon which I'm very proud of I'm
Lebanese and I grew up in Lebanon and
Rose is the emblem of England and my
wife is English so Cedar Ro stands for
me and my wife basically so technically
speaking thank you we we when we put the
name cedos on any product of our company
we putting our name on it my name and my
wife's name in fact um now going back to
what I was saying earlier on the
collection of information and
investigation and the research we were
during the course of time able to
collect lot of information but that
information came from different sources
yeah at CID Ro we always aim to get that
information from the ultimate sources
yes always compiling information from
the um reliable sources obtaining it
legally ethically and then making sure
each data point that we obtain has a
unique identifier such as registration
number ID number and so on this made us
create a very important database for
research and investigations today this
is available to our clients through our
platform so through the platform you are
able to search for companies and
individuals find out about their
ownership into their companies their
operations their financial um stability
and so on and if they are compliant if
they are sanctioned if they are
associated to any adverse uh information
Financial crime is a big part of it
because a lot of the investigation is
due to regulatory requirements of course
um and obviously having that information
to hand in one place is very unique for
anyone that wants to make sure they are
doing business with the people that they
are trusting the element is trust is
very important yes so knowing who the
compan is owned by knowing if the compan
is engaged in unethical activity as you
mentioned everything's core start is the
data is the information and I think also
there's another misconception that when
we fight for any crime we just find the
solution we we reactive we don't go to
the core thing which is the data and the
data that's why we say data management
data privacy data accuracy the data has
a path from the moment it's created
until it's ended like the the life ends
of the data and it needs preserving how
do you manage your data because this is
the core of everything how do you make
sure it's accurate it's up toate it's
clear it's clean it's secure it's
private all of that first of all it's
very challenging secondly it's very
costly and it takes time yeah it takes
time first to be able to obtain that
information in that first instance
curate that information transform that
information as you know we specialize in
the middle eastn Africa we have a global
coverage but our core area is the Middle
East in Africa and we have a database
today that is unmatched is the largest
more most comprehensive database of his
kind we have roughly about 50 million
companies in our records we have over 10
million ubos in our database so that
information to be collected from the
regions that we specialize in is very
challenging in the first instance the
data has to be normalized standardized
translated transliterated we do a lot of
investment into the talent that does
this for us and transform that data we
invest a lot in the technology and we
invest a lot also in the security of the
data actually technology the last two
things you mentioned technology and
security I know that many people would
love it's not like also would love it's
a necessity and something we need to
have to have the right solutions to
fight any risks or breaches or potential
red flags or anything at the same time
if I'm an institution I will be a little
bit confused or concerned I want the
right solution at the same time I'm
afraid if I adopt any technology
solution I'm exposing myself to to cyber
security so it's a double sword from one
side I have to have it from the other
side okay I'm opening another Pandora
box for me how do you manage this fine
line between it's it's very challenging
yes sure I totally understand it has two
elements to it first of all the data the
Privacy side of it and then it's the
security part of it in terms of data
privacy we adhered to or we started to
adhere to since Inception with the data
um protection act of 1997 in the UK
subsequently we moved on to the gdpr in
20189 so we made sure our staff
especially key staff that handle data
are very familiar with the gdpr most
recently in the last three years we
undergone an ISO 27,1 certification by
doing so we go through an audit rigorous
audit you know by by the authorities and
by The Regulators to make sure we have
the best data security information
security in terms of data hosting
holding collection transmission access
um and all the rest of it to make sure
that our clients feel safe doing
business with us knowing that their data
is secured and is handled as well to to
the best practices yeah very thoughtful
you said now our clients to feel safe
and secure people watching us now either
from the field or not from the field
just regular people a mother taking her
kids to school kids if we want to just
educate them or give them tips how to
make sure everyone of us fights
Financial crime because as we said it's
not about Banks and financial
institutions Financial crimes can be
human trafficking a child we're saving
it um a modern slavery a child labor
like very evilness out there
unfortunately how can every one of us do
something to move the needle even for a
little bit sure I believe everyone need
to be uh aware of who they are doing
business with who they are transacting
with who they are rubbing shoulders with
and go beyond the external appearances
of lushness or expensive cars or fancy
offices and the right do do the checks
on the background of these people even
if you are transacting on a personal
level buying a property or buying a car
or a yacht or a private jet or anything
like that do check the people you buying
from or you selling to because the last
thing you would want to do is be
associated with people that you don't
really want to be associated with
because it could tarnish your reputation
or could impact you financially yes from
the reputation side you might be without
knowing you know um finance an activity
that you really don't want to be
associated with like human trafficking
drug trafficking terrorism um and many
others many other um you know Financial
crimes that people are not aware of
usually I like that you said don't be
deceived by appearance
and lavish lifestyle and all of that
because I think it all starts with
emotions and I call it actually not
Financial crimes I call it emotional
crimes sometimes because everything
start when we we trigger a certain
emotion in us whether my greediness or
my Laing to be famous or public figure
or Laing to be associated with people
with a yacht or people with and that's
how criminals actually use this weakness
that's a point of weakness to Target and
I'm sure this is something you educate
your clients on and that's why whom to
deal with their suppliers and as you
were telling me before we start it's not
only with our clients it's the new era
which is the supply risk you do things
about Supply risk in C the rose right
yes absolutely Supply risk uh is very
serious today in the US and in the EU
and I have no doubt it will come to this
part of the world is in fact been acted
as as a regulation and the law in the EU
countries so people need to be not aware
only of their client doing the kyc but
also be aware of their own subsidiaries
and their own supply chain including you
know 10 20 30 companies down the line
they can't say oh I'm a company based in
Germany I don't care about my supplier
in in in Dubai or in Lebanon or
somewhere like that they are responsible
for that absolutely it's very important
an masad wishing you an amazing fight
against Financial crimes and for
Humanity and thank you so much for being
with us today thank you for hosting me
thank you very much to you and to Dubai
TV thank you thank you
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